A Bash, a Breakup, and a Brand New Year
by WindowChild
Summary: As the hours count down to midnight, a newly single Juniper finds unlikely friendship with Nico di Angelo. Junico.


A/N: I know, I'm on an unusual pairing spree. The ship was done by ShadowPalace's request, so this is dedicated to her.

**6 Hours to Midnight**

The parties.

They'd become a part of the weekly routine, really. Every Friday or Saturday, someone would host one in their cabin. During the rest of the year, they'd be hosted at one apartment or another.

It was a method of recreation, and in an odd way, it proved how much they'd all bonded. Their friendships were no longer formed from necessity; they were real, and they were strong enough to overflow the months of camp.

This particular party was a New Year's Eve, hosted at Nico's penthouse apartment on fifth. After getting over his childish self-pity, he'd come out with a series of videogames. They were juvenile and cheap, but they'd made him one of the wealthiest sixteen year-olds there was.

"Hey! Percy! Where're you going?" He followed his cousin over by the beverage table, wearing a sloppy grin.

Ever since Percy and Annabeth had started college, the parties were pretty much the only time he saw them.

"Hi Nico," Percy said. "Happy New Year."

"You too," Nico said. "You want champagne?"

"Uh, sure, I'll have a little," Percy said, taking a garish goblet. "Thanks Nico." He noticed his younger cousin taking a swig, and gazed at him with worry. "Um, you know that stuff's alcoholic, right?"

"So?" Nico's eyes were challenging. "It's my party."

"Yeah…" Percy replied, hesitantly. He knew that Nico wouldn't be so cavalier when he felt the hangover in the morning. "Well, you'd better get back to hosting. Have you seen Grover anywhere?"

"Yeah, he and Juniper were fighting. They're in the back, somewhere."

"Fighting? Gee, that doesn't sound like them. Okay, I'll go see what's up."

"See ya." Nico walked off, making sure to slick back his hair. His goal, for the New Year, was to get a girlfriend.

He paid his greetings to a few more old camp friends, and to some of the younger kids who had asked for an invite. They were alright, most of them.

It was one of the distinct markers between pre-Kronos and post-Kronos camp. Everyone got along, for the most part, and they actually bothered to get to know one another.

Nico ran his finger over the ice chips in the cooler. They were perfectly cut, just the way he liked them. He smiled, turning to see himself in a mirror. Sometimes he didn't recognize himself anymore. He was better groomed, and he smiled much more often than he used to. Happiness. This was what it looked like.

**5 Hours to Midnight**

After making the rounds, Nico decided to go look for his friends. He knew that most of them were supposed to be there, and he had an odd inclination to see them before midnight. It wasn't that he minded socializing exactly, but his friends proved to be much better company.

"Hey again," he said, coming upon Percy.

"Hi Nico," Percy replied. "Listen, Grover and Juniper broke up, so Grover's –"

"They broke up?" it wasn't as if Nico cared per se, but so far none of the standing camp couples had been split. It seemed as if each of them was born for another of their kind, and once they found each other, there was no need for them to part. Yes… if Grover and Juniper broke up, it could only be because they weren't the ones meant to be together.

Percy nodded. "Yeah. So I put him in a cab to my house, is that okay?"

"Sure," Nico said, sighing. "I guess. Do you know where everyone else is?"

"Everyone else?" Percy waved his hands around, demonstrating the surplus of people.

"You know, our friends," Nico supplied.

"No idea," Percy said. "Annabeth's coming late, she had to work."

"Oh."

"Tyson should be here somewhere… and the Stoll's."

"Okay. What about Thalia?"

"Thalia?" Percy laughed. "You really think they'd let her come to a party where there's drinks and men?"

"No…" Nico replied. He felt stupid; when he was sending out the invitations, a part of him had really believed she might show up. When better to have a miracle than on New Year's Eve? "Well, I think I'm going to escape to my game room now. Uh, feel free to come if the party drives you too crazy."

"Alright, thanks," Percy replied grinning. "I will."

Nico kept his eyes on Percy as he stepped across the room. If he was happy, his older cousin was somewhere beyond that. Everything had been going his way, and Nico couldn't help but be jealous.

The game room was Nico's favorite room in his apartment. He had designed it himself, as a reward for the latest edition of his games. Well, he didn't 'design it', but he did hire the people who do that sort of thing.

It was a nice room, with black leather couches and a wide-range stereo system. It was windowless, but one hardly noticed because of all the light from the games. Pac man, the old fashioned kind. It wasn't Nico's personal favorite, but it was the one he always showed to guests._ His_ favorite was the Wii.

When he went there during the party, he had planned to get a quick escape. He'd be alone there, he figured, and could take a minute to rid himself of the party fumes.

However, when he entered he noticed Juniper, sprawled on one of the couches. She was crying, globs of mascara sliding down her cheeks. What a pity it was, Nico thought. Her makeup had looked really nice on her.

"Oh," he said stupidly, remaining in the threshold. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

Juniper picked her head up, "No…" she wailed, "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, Nico. I didn't mean to come in here… I just –" She broke off, sobbing once again.

Nico stood where he was, stunned. She knew his name? There was a moment of recognition, and he almost slapped himself. _Of course_ she knew his name, they only hung out as a group every few weeks or so. And _clearly_ she was a lot brighter than he was.

"That's okay," he replied, his voice lacking the empathetic quality he hoped it would posses. "You can stay here… I'll just go…" he gestured back at the party.

"Wait!" Juniper called.

Nico spun on his heel. "Huh?"

"Please stay with me," she said. Her tear-filled eyes were pleading with him, begging not to leave her with her misery. He knew the feeling, Nico thought roughly. Only, they _had_ left him. Everyone had. And in time, he'd grown to like it that way. Then again, that had been the beginning of disaster.

So perhaps he shouldn't do that to an innocent girl. He shouldn't be the cause of whatever complex might fall upon her. Maybe, just this once, he should do something productive.

"Okay… I'll uh, stay with you." His eyes floated to the clock on the wall, just in time to see the minute hand hit the twelve.

**4 Hours to Midnight**

"Are you um, okay?" He wasn't sure what else to say to her.

"No," she replied softly, wiping at her face with a bundle of tissues. "I – I don't feel okay."

"I'm sorry," Nico said. The words were rare for him, and tasted funny on his tongue. "What – what happened with you guys?" He silently prayed to his father that Juniper wasn't one of those girls who yelled at you for asking.

"Oh, I don't even know," she answered, sniffling. "We just kind of got stuck, you know? I used to love him a lot…" The tears overflowed once again, and Nico wasn't quite sure what to do. Usually, he was the last person anyone called when they needed comfort.

"Right," he said, as soothingly as demigodly possible. "I remember."

She nodded. "And we never fought. Not ever. … Maybe that was the problem."

"Yeah!" Nico replied, a bit too enthusiastically. "I heard about that. There was a study done, right? Fighting's good?"

"Or something," Juniper said, nodding along. "But we never did any of that, you know? And we didn't talk about much." She blubbered something else, and Nico wasn't quite sure what she'd said.

"What was that?" he asked.

"He – always – cared – more – about – Percy – and – Annabeth," she sobbed, hiccupping between every word.

Nico nearly laughed. "Well, don't worry about _that_. That's the story of my life."

"Really?" She looked oddly hopeful.

"Sure," Nico said. "They always get all of the attention, don't they?"

"Yeah," Juniper agreed. "But they're some of my best friends!" she squeaked. "So it's not like I mind that, exactly. I just wish that Grover…" His name seemed to be too much for her, and she buried her face in the couch cushions.

"Uh…" Nico said eloquently, stretching out the syllable. "Well, don't worry, I understand."

"You do?" she asked, her voice almost entirely muffled.

Nico nodded, and then realizing she couldn't see him, said, "Yeah, pretty much. Hey, do you want champagne?"

"Champagne?" Her head snapped straight up, as if attached by a string. "Isn't that bad for you?"

"If you drink it all of the time, yeah," Nico said. "But if it's just on New Year's –"

"New Year's?" Juniper's face crumpled in on itself, and Nico wondered hopelessly what he'd done _now_. "I'm sorry Nico!" she wailed. "I didn't mean to ruin New Year's for you."

"Oh, well that's okay," Nico said. "It's only New Year's eve. And besides, I don't like big crowds."

"Really?" she asked, sounding calmer. "Then how come you have all of these parties? You host them like every month, right?"

"I don't know," Nico answered honestly. "I think I like having everybody over."

"But not actually seeing them?"

"Yeah."

"So wait, do you like attention or not?"

There was silence on Nico's end, as he thought it over. "I think it depends? Usually yes, though," he decided. "But for stuff like this, I like the general attention, but not when it's thrown at me all at once."

"I see," Juniper said, nodding along.

"You do?"

"Sure," she answered, wiping at her eyes. "You like getting your proper credit for stuff, but it's kind of overwhelming when it's all thrown at you at once."

"Right," Nico agreed. "That's pretty smart."

"Thanks…" Juniper replied.

"What about you?" Nico asked.

"What about me?"

"Do you like attention?" Nico asked.

"Not really," she replied. "I'm more of a behind the scenes person."

"Yeah…" Nico said. "My sister was like that."

"You have a sister?"

"Had," Nico said softly. "Her name's Bianca."

"Oh… I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "That's okay. I'm a son of Hades so…"

"Oh, right. I forgot about that. That's cool."

"Yeah," Nico agreed. "It's nice, that way." They barely knew each other, so he decided not to get into the specifics of how it could be hard.

"Wait, you said I could try that champagne stuff?"

"Sure, do you want to?" Nico asked.

Juniper nodded, looking curious. She leaned forward, taking the glass for Nico. She took a sip, and instantly made a face. "Ick. It's not very good."

Nico laughed. "You've just got to get a taste for it. Don't worry, you will."

"If you say so."

"Hey look, it's been an hour," Nico said.

"Huh?"

"Another hour," Nico said. "Only three hours until midnight."

**3 Hours to Midnight**

Juniper screamed lightly, keeping her hand on the controller. "Aah! How do you turn this thing?"

Nico smiled lightly, putting his hand atop hers. "Like this. You twist it." He was trying to teach her how to play one of the easier games in the room. So far they hadn't made much progress. "No, no… Juniper, like this."

She moved over, allowing him to demonstrate.

"Your good at this stuff," she commented. "Is that why you're such a big shot with all those games?"

"Nah, I'm not a big shot," Nico confessed, locking his thumbs in his pockets. He shot the virtual ball into the goal. "I just practice."

"I bet," Juniper replied. "You used to like those cards, right?"

Mytho Magic. "Yeah… how'd you know about that?"

"Percy mentioned it," she replied.

"Oh…" Nico said. His cheeks glowed red with embarrassment, and he wasn't sure why. There was nothing to be embarrassed about, really. "Listen, after you lose –" Juniper shot him a look. "Want to go get food? I think they're putting out cupcakes soon. Do you like cupcakes?"

Juniper nodded, her smile tight with girly-guilt. "I do. Vanilla ones, with butter cream frosting."

"Well, we're in luck. I think they have those." He truly had no idea if they were going to have vanilla cupcakes, but they could hope.

"Wait," Juniper said, stopping in place. "What about Grover? What if we run into him?"

"Oh, we won't," Nico explained. "Percy said he left."

She looked relieved for a moment, and then heart broken. "He did? Oh the poor thing… I should go over there."

"What?" Nico said. "No, Juniper, you really shouldn't. That's not how you start a break up."

Her face fell. "A break up? Oh gods… I didn't even think of it that way…"

Nico panicked. "Oh, well it doesn't have to be – you don't have to think –" He sighed, giving up on the reassurance. "Why don't we say hi to Percy?"

"Okay," she sighed, allowing Nico to pull her in Percy's direction.

"Hey guys," Percy said. He looked sympathetic. "Oh, Annabeth just got here. She's at the food table."

"We're going there next," Nico said.

"Percy," Juniper said, stepping forward. "Is – is Grover okay?"

Percy's eyes softened, and he reached forward to give Juniper a hug. Nico frowned. He wondered why the moron was better at this than he was.

"Don't worry about it, Juniper," he said, "He'll be okay. And listen, he wants you to know that there are no hard feelings, okay? He still loves you as a friend."

"I still love him as a friend too!" Juniper wailed. She threw herself at Percy, sobbing into his shoulder.

"It's okay," Percy said, awkwardly patting her. "Don't worry. Seriously Juniper, it's all fine. He understands."

"He does?" she choked, pulling back. Percy nodded.

"Juniper?" It was Annabeth, coming over. "Hi Juniper, I'm so sorry. Percy told me." She swiftly pulled Juniper away, keeping her arm around her.

Percy turned to Nico, his expression one of discomfort. "Did she… did she mention what happened to them?"

"Not really," Nico said. "She said that they got 'stuck' or whatever. And that they never fought."

"Right," Percy said. "He sort of said that too. But I still can't figure out what they were arguing about _tonight_." Nico shrugged; he was just as uncertain as Percy. Percy sighed, shaking his head. "I don't know, though. They've been together for a while. No wonder it's so hard."

"Yeah…" Nico glanced over in Juniper's direction, where Annabeth was still consoling her. He wondered vaguely if it was bad that he was jealous of her affection for Percy. The two had been hugging and everything, and he found himself envious.

It was almost ten o'clock. Nico took a long chug of the champagne.

"Whoa, you okay?" Percy asked, as Nico stumbled over onto the floor.

"Fine…" Nico replied. "Maybe I should stop drinking this stuff."

"Yeah, no kidding. How much have you had?"

"A little over a glass."

"Geez. You're sixteen Nico!"

"Thanks, I got that much."

"Yeah, well, apparently not. This stuff's strong."

"Sorry," Nico said, feeling stupid. "I just… I wanted to feel grown up."

Percy sighed. "Let me take you to your room, okay?"

"My room?" Nico's face fell. "But it's my party! I want to see the ball drop!"

"Well, not tonight. I mean, if you're up to it, okay?"

"Okay," Nico's legs trembled slightly, as he tried to walk in the direction of his bedroom.

"Who brought it anyway?" Percy asked.

"Connor and Travis," Nico confessed.

"How'd they get it?" Percy asked. "They're underage too."

"Yeah," Nico replied, massaging his temples. "But they're them."

"Hey, where are you going?" Juniper asked, evidently recovered.

"He's going to sleep," Percy jumped in, before Nico could speak. "He's drunk."

"On that champagne?" Juniper asked. She gave him a sympathetic smile. "Aw, I'm sorry. You poor thing!"

Nico couldn't help but smile as she put her hand to his forehead, and slicked his hair back. Her skin was nice and smooth.

He was a little embarrassed though, as she and Annabeth both followed them to his room.

"We're talking about this later," Annabeth said, glaring at him.

"Whatever," Nico said. The pillow felt good beneath his spinning head.

"Goodnight!" Juniper called cheerfully.

The word rang over and over in his ears, as he lost consciousness.

**2 Hours to Midnight**

Nico was asleep. His dreams were awfully befuddled, but he was pretty sure that there was a herd of Satyr's chasing him.

**1 Hour to Midnight**

He was still asleep, although much more calmly now. His dreams were ordinary ones, and not enhanced by the alcohol. Evidently, he had a better tolerance for the champagne than they'd thought.

Even in his sleep, he felt better. The only thing stopping him from waking up was the soft hand against his cheek…

**45 Minutes to Midnight**

"You're awake," Juniper said. She was sitting beside him on the bed, smiling at him.

"Yeah," Nico said, groggily. He sat up, still staring at her. "Did you stay here the whole time?"

She nodded. "I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Oh wow… thanks," Nico replied. He smiled. "That's really nice." He wanted to tell her that he'd never met anyone so nice, but he didn't. He just kept grinning awkwardly at her.

"Thanks for listening earlier," Juniper said. "To everything. I'm sorry I was such a wreck."

"That's okay," Nico replied. "I mean, you weren't a wreck."

"Do you want to go back to the party?" Juniper asked.

"No thanks," Nico replied.

"Oh." She looked disappointed. "Well, I understand. You must feel pretty sick."

"Um, not that's not what I meant," Nico said quickly. "I just don't want to be around _everyone_. How about we go back to the game room?"

Juniper perked up immediately, batting her eyelashes. She extended her hand for him to take, which he did. They walked, fingers entwined, all the way through the party. For some reason, Nico felt proud of himself.

**30 Minutes to Midnight**

"Should we turn on the TV?" Juniper asked. "I've heard the ball-dropping ceremony is really fun!"

"You've never seen it?" Nico asked.

"No," she replied. "Have you?"

"Yeah. The last couple of years, when I was at Percy's."

"Oh. Is it fun?"

"Very," Nico replied. "Everyone cheers and throws stuff out the window. And you're supposed to kiss someone right at midnight." His breathing sped dramatically, in full knowledge of the risk he was taking. He was either going to remind her of Grover, or set himself up for a happy New Year.

"Really?" In the improved light of the game room, he could see how beautiful she was. Her cheeks were all pink tinged, and her eyes glowed with excitement.

"Yeah…" He glanced downward, forcing sorrow into his expression. "But I don't have anyone to kiss." He tried to watch her with his peripheral vision, but it was hard to catch her expression.

She sighed for a moment, and then placed a hand on top of his. Nico nearly gasped with excitement. "Well, since I don't either, do you want to kiss each other?" She looked at him, smiling.

"Okay," Nico replied, "Yeah, I'd like that."

**5 Minutes to Midnight **

"Here you guys are," Percy said, plopping on one of the couches. "I was looking all over for you."

"Sorry," Nico said, without a trace of apology to his voice. His hand was still in Juniper's, he was too happy to be sorry.

"You're both okay then?" Annabeth asked. She got two distracted nods in response, and blew hair from her face. "Okay, then. Our worrying was fairly pointless."

"No," Juniper said, looking sad. "Thanks so much, you guys. You were really sweet."

"Yeah, thanks," Nico said.

"You don't look grateful," Percy muttered, so only Nico could hear.

**1 Minute to Midnight**

"I can't wait!" Juniper squealed. She was jumping up and down, her expression one of pure delight. Evidently she'd forgotten all about Grover. "Thank you so much, Nico," she said.

"Thank me?" Nico asked. "For what?" He generally didn't refuse credit, but he wanted to hear her full elaboration.

"For tonight!" she replied. "I'm glad I got to know you."

Nico was about to reply, when Annabeth screamed at them. "Guys! It's time!"

**Midnight**

"Happy New Year!" they shouted, fairly simultaneously.

Nico glanced at his friends, and saw that Percy already had Annabeth in his arms. The two were kissing.

"Juniper?" he asked. "Want to –" He was cut off, as she leaned forward and kissed him on the lips.

"Happy New Year, Nico," she said. "Thank you again."

"Happy – happy New Year, Juniper," Nico replied. He grinned, feeling out of breath.

"Maybe I'll see you around?" Juniper asked. "I'm staying in the city for a while."

"Do you want to come over tomorrow, for lunch?" Nico asked.

"Tomorrow?" she smiled slyly, then frowned. "Listen, Nico. I really like you and everything, I do. It's just… me and Grover just broke up. A couple of hours ago. I don't think I can…"

"That's okay," Nico interrupted. "For now, it can just be as friends." He panted a little, proud of his forwardness. It was unusual for him.

"You think so?"

"Of course."

"Thank you, Nico. _Again_."

"Your welcome. Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year."

He took a risk, and leaned forward to hug her. He liked how easy she was to hold onto. "Bye, Juniper."

"Bye Nico. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah."

A/N: Thanks for reading! I know it was long. By the way, I hereby christen them Junico. Isn't it cute? Anyway, please review! I know this was kind of an oddly-structured fic, so I'd like feedback. Hope you enjoyed it!


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